Chapter 49: Dragon’s Slash
Lars’s laughter immediately stopped.
His eyes dropped towards the dense aura covering Roderic’s hooked blades.
For a moment, the confidence on his face wavered.
Upon realizing that, his face twisted into anger again.
’’LIES!’’ he shouted, raising his battle axe.
CRACK! CRACK!
The ground shattered beneath his feet as his muscular body kicked forward.
Despite his size, he was surprisingly fast.
WHOOSH!
His battle axe swept horizontally through the air, heading straight for Roderic’s neck.
Roderic ducked underneath it.
Before Lars could pull his axe back, Roderic pushed forward and slashed toward his exposed stomach.
Lars twisted his body at the last moment.
Even so, it wasn’t enough.
Roderic’s blade tore across his side, leaving behind a long bloody cut.
’’ARGH!’’
Lars immediately swung his elbow towards Roderic’s face while stumbling back.
Leaning backwards, Roderic barely dodged it before kicking off the ground and creating several meters of distance between them.
’’Nice one,’’ he said, raising a thumb with a smile. ’’Almost broke my nose there!’’
Lars clenched his jaw, glancing down at the wound on his side.
Blood was already running down towards his waist, soaking his pants in red.
’’You little...’’ he muttered, his face darkening.
Roderic let out a low chuckle.
’’Come on,’’ he said, taunting him. ’’That can’t be it, right?’’
For someone who’d supposedly fought for over ten years, he’d expected a lot more.
’Did he lie?’ Roderic thought. ’Mhm, probably not. I’m just faster than him.’
And it wasn’t by a little either.
Compared to a month ago, Lars’s movements seemed painfully obvious.
The moment his shoulders moved, Roderic could already tell where the axe was going.
’The Eagle Eyes Trait really is ridiculous.’
Lars charged forward again.
’’DIE!’’ he shouted.
He raised the battle axe above his head before bringing it down with everything he had.
Waves of aura erupted around the axe as it came down, going faster and faster.
Roderic narrowed his eyes.
’Technique,’ he thought, flipping his hooked blades to their sharp side.
In an instant, both blades rose to his side as he took a little step to the side.
CLANG!
The enormous axe slammed down on the blades.
Roderic immediately tilted both of his wrists.
SCREEECH!
Instead of meeting the attack head-on, the axe slid across the surface of his hooked blades.
Lars’s eyes widened.
’Can’t stop!’
The immense force behind his attack suddenly worked against him.
BOOM!
His axe crashed into the stone floor beside Roderic.
Cracks spread across the ground as chunks of stone flew through the air.
Roderic’s eyes immediately locked onto the battle axe.
’Got you,’ he thought, smiling.
Before Lars could rip the axe free, Roderic turned both of his blades to their hooked side and locked them around the shaft.
A bright flash of aura immediately erupted from the blades.
CRACK!
The thick wooden shaft shattered instantly between the two hooks.
Lars’s eyes widened.
’’What?!’’
The sudden loss of resistance sent him stumbling back.
Snapping out of his daze, he immediately tossed what remained of the broken shaft away, his eyes already searching for another weapon.
But Roderic wasn’t going to let that happen.
He kicked off the ground, both hooked blades already by his side.
But then something strange happened.
The aura surrounding Roderic’s left blade suddenly disappeared.
Instead, all of it rushed toward the blade in his right hand.
’Second move,’ he thought, grinning as he pushed on. ’Dragon’s Slash.’
The aura only grew stronger as it gathered around the sharpened side.
A bright blue light instantly spread through the room.
In that moment, Roderic slid to a halt, twisted his body, and slashed down with all his strength.
SHING!
A crescent of concentrated blue aura shot away from the blade.
Lars barely even had the time to widen his eyes.
SHHK!
The aura tore straight through his body.
It continued for another three meters behind him before finally dissipating.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Lars remained standing there, staring at Roderic in disbelief.
Then a thin red line appeared down the center of his body.
THUD! THUD!
Both halves of his body crashed onto the ground.
For several seconds, the entire room remained silent.
The surrounding knights stared at Lars’s corpse with wide eyes.
’’The young master has gotten better again,’’ one whispered.
’’Yeah,’’ another nodded slowly.
But Roderic didn’t pay any attention to them.
Instead, his gaze remained locked on the body in front of him.
’Damn,’ he thought, surprised. ’This time was a lot better than before.’
He’d only managed to properly perform the slash move a few days ago.
And even then, it had barely traveled two meters before disappearing.
This time, it’d gone double that.
A satisfied smile appeared on Roderic’s face as he put both blades on his back.
’All the fighting has really been paying off,’ he thought. ’Once I’m back from the Young Noble Gathering, I might be able to form my second aura seal too.’
Just then, several familiar notifications appeared in front of him.
[One aura seal enemy slain: +2 Throne Coins.]
[Territorial quest completed!]
[Annihilate the Black Wolf Bandits and rescue their captives.]
[Reward: 1000 Throne Coins + Advanced Trait: Ambidextrous.]
Roderic’s eyes lit up immediately.
’Finally,’ he thought, grinning from ear to ear. ’I’ll claim it later though.’
After swiping the system screen away, he glanced back at the knights around him.
’’Alright everyone,’’ he said, clapping his hands together. ’’You know the drill. Get the civilians to safety and scour this place for valuables.’’
The knights instantly bowed slightly.
’’Yes, young master!’’
They immediately scattered throughout the hideout.
Several headed back toward the cages, while the others began searching the rooms for anything the bandits had accumulated.
Roderic watched them leave before turning toward the exit himself.
There wasn’t much reason for him to stick around.
They’d done this enough times over the past month that everyone already knew exactly what needed to happen.
’Eight,’ he thought, a satisfied smile appearing on his face. ’That makes eight territorial quests completed in a month.’
And this one officially marked the end of his month-long journey.
Tomorrow morning, they’d return to the Whitemane Estate again.
And a day after that, he’d set off towards Marquis Valemont’s territory.
’It’s finally time for the main quest,’ Roderic thought, clenching his fist. ’And I can’t forget the Young Noble Gathering either.’